The T206 Titus Bubble

SetBuilder · #1 06-18-2013, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

Trimming a T206 Wagner, grading it as factory-cut = unethical
Selling cards on the b/s/t with creases but saying your loupe showed a perfect card = unethical
Creating a T206 website pimping fake T206s that you created and selling them = unethical
this link below = unethical
http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=86171

destroying your own t206s = whatever

You don't just simply destroy a T206 card. There has to be a motivation behind it.

All of us here are part of a collecting "community". The majority of us are decent people making a good faith attempt to put together collections, hopefully doing so with the consideration of others who are attempting the same. The last thing we need is a shady character burning cards to make his collection more valuable, or hoarding a player to make it harder for the rest of us to pay for a common card. It's hard enough to complete a T206 set as it is.

tiger8mush · #2 06-18-2013, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SetBuilder

You don't just simply destroy a T206 card.

Yet we destroy '89 Topps cards? Where is the boundary of ethics drawn? At '53 Bowmans?

ullmandds · #3 06-18-2013, 09:15 PM

"It's hard enough to complete a T206 set as it is. " that's funny! it'd be a lot easier...quicker...cheaper to corner the market on a much rarer caramel common card!

atx840 · #4 06-18-2013, 09:31 PM

Its a personal project not some evil plan to corner the global market of a baseball card in which thousands and thousands are out there.

If he slowly buys 100 @ $50-$150 (10K...low estimate) and then decides to slowly release them out one a month for a high $175 BIN and sells all 100..that is still only a $7,500 profit over 8 years. He has spent 1/3 of that on acquiring one BL350 example alone.

He simply enjoys the card.

SetBuilder · #5 06-18-2013, 09:35 PM

I'm only going off the information that I've gathered from this board. That information points to a collector with over a hundred Titus cards. Perhaps there is more information that we're not aware of, but based on the facts thus far, I just don't think this is normal, ethical, collecting behavior.

I don't think I'm the only one that feels this way.

Eric72 · #6 06-18-2013, 09:41 PM

Chris,

I agree:

The prospect of hoarding the examples of a card one has stashed is easy enough to envision. Doing this to cause a price increase is easy enough to envision. �Cornering the market� is a method employed by many who have come before us.

Typically, this is embarked upon to increase the value of one�s holdings. And I completely understand this investment strategy. What escapes my understanding is the rationale behind destroying one�s holdings for the sake of increasing the value of an investment portfolio. Simply put, you can�t sell them if you burned them.

Many early hoarders of Gregg Jefferies have likely gone down a similar path, tearing up his cards like so many losing lottery tickets or tossing them into the recycling bin with the rest of that late '80s crap.

Doing this solely with an eye towards increasing the value of said card, though; in my humble opinion, is paradoxical. After all, how could one realize a profit through such an act?

A case could possibly be made that destroying the lower grade examples would be similar to a farmer thinning the crop for a better yield. Having said this, I still do not see the economic gain to be had here.

My personal opinion is that the T206 Titus hoarder has a higher purpose.

Best Regards,

Eric

RCMcKenzie · #7 06-18-2013, 09:49 PM

Had you bought the T207 Red Cross Lowdermilk, then you could start to say that you were cornering the market on a card. I would guess that there are 5 to 10 thousand T206 Titus cards. I see them all of the time on ebay, at no reserve ,selling for under $200. If someone wants to collect that card, I see nothing wrong with that, morally, ethically, or otherwise. It's like a back run to me. He's not affecting the pricing one iota, imho.

SetBuilder · #8 06-18-2013, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Had you bought the T207 Red Cross Lowdermilk, then you could start to say that you were cornering the market on a card. I would guess that there are 5 to 10 thousand T206 Titus cards. I see them all of the time on ebay, at no reserve ,selling for under $200. If someone wants to collect that card, I see nothing wrong with that, morally, ethically, or otherwise. It's like a back run to me. He's not affecting the pricing one iota, imho.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1909-11-T206...item51add510af

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T206-John-Ti...item43bc8fde94

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T206-John-Ti...item5d3faacf67

Look at those crazy prices for a common card that you and Chris say there are thousands and thousands of.

So because I'm collecting a T206 set like many on this board, I have to pay 200% premium to market value just so some hoarder(s) can work on a "special project"?

How can that price bubble be explained? That's right, there is no good explanation.

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